After a really impressive first half, Kirk Cousins cooled down considerably Sunday in Atlanta. After starting out 13 of 20 for 248 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the first half, Cousins went 16 of 25 for 133 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

The completion percentage is higher, of course, but the difference in yards per attempt from the first half (12.4) and second half (5.3) is pretty staggering. Cousins and the Redskins couldn't pull off a surprise win -- Mike Shanahan eschewed a game-tying extra point to try and win the game -- but Shanahan's still getting what he wanted by making Cousins look good.

Kirk Cousins passes for 381 yards. Surely some teams needing QB help took notice. (USATSI)

That should continue, too: the Redskins will play the Cowboys (28th in pass defense efficiency at Football Outsiders before this week) and Giants (13th) in the final two games of the season. Cousins will get a chance to whip the ball around and he'll get a chance to make Shanahan look like a guy who can coach up quarterbacks.

There's going to be a LOT of talk about what Cousins is worth in a trade over the next few weeks. It's hard to argue that benching Robert Griffin III was wrong given that this window of games lets everyone see what Cousins has from the pocket and lets RG3 get healthy (although he misses reps). But remember to keep a level head. There's a reason Cousins fell to the fourth round in the 2012 NFL Draft. There's a reason he's a backup.

Matt Flynn and Kevin Kolb are both excellent cautionary tales.

TeamGradeAnalysisSteelers 30, Bengals 20D-Playing in Pittsburgh is tough but the Bengals just blew a chance to leap up in the AFC playoff seeding. The running game was totally flat and Andy Dalton never pushed the down the field.B+Ben Roethlisberger played a very efficient game and Antonio Brown kept having a monster season that no one's really noticing. The Steelers defense smothered Cincinnati early and Le'Veon Bell keeps looking better and better for Pittsburgh.TeamGradeAnalysisChiefs 56, Raiders 31B+So now the Chiefs are average on defense and are great on offense? I'm so confused. The Raiders aren't very good, but Kansas City still hung a freaking 50 burger on a divisional rival on the road. Jamaal Charles is a fantasy football playoffs GOD.D-Can't give up 50 points to a team that's run by Alex Smith. It's just unacceptable. Matt McGloin threw four picks and Terrelle Pryor tossed in one of his own. Small moral victory that the Raiders weren't eliminated from the playoffs until December.Panthers 30, Jets 20C-Santonio Holmes and Co. couldn't back up his "weak link" smack talk. Geno Smith got smothered and the Jets passing game got shut down. They did an alright job containing the Panthers offense but were overmatched most of the day.B-Not a totally dominant outing you'd like to see but they took care of business. (And the Jets lopped on a semi-garbage touchdown.) Cam Newton was efficient, DeAngelo Williams was explosive and the defense roughed up Geno Smith and Co.Packers 37, Cowboys 36C+Inspiring comeback for the Packers who suddenly look kind of scary in the NFC if Aaron Rodgers can get back on the field next week. Matt Flynn was overmatched in the first half and carved Dallas up in the second. Eddie Lacy is a MAN.C-First half grade: A. Second half grade: F----------------. (Those are minuses.) What a debacle for Dallas, particularly on the defensive end. They only ran the ball six times in the second half and couldn't stop Matt Flynn despite a 23-point lead at halftime.Rams 27, Saints 16D-So weird how badly the Saints struggle in St. Louis. The Rams just match up well with them, I guess. They got battered and bruised on Sunday and really let the Panthers back into the hunt in the NFC South. Drew Brees was horrible and the running game was non existent.B+Zac Stacy with a statement game for Rookie of the Year on the same day Eddie Lacy made noise (and not long after Keenan Allen did the same thing). Kellen Clemens was efficient and the Rams defense made life miserable for the Saints.Cardinals 37, Titans 34C+Pretty scary that the Cardinals let the Titans back into this game. Overtime never should've happened. Andre Ellington and Rashard Mendenhall are developing into an interesting little pair of running backs. No INTs for Carson Palmer either.C-Just your casual 400-yard performance for Ryan Fitzpatrick. Weird, weird game. Kendall Wright's quietly maturing into a very nice option at wide receiver. Meh game from Chris Johnson though.TeamGradeAnalysisFalcons 27, Redskins 26C-Nice game from Kirk Cousins against a depleted secondary. The Redskins receivers were actually able to win early but he cooled in the second half. Washington defense made some plays too but a two-point #YOLO gamble didn't pay off.CThe Falcons keep pushing themselves further and further from Jadeveon Clowney. Not a good game for Matt Ryan or the Falcons secondary but a win is a win I suppose. Pair of tough ones for them the last two weeks.Vikings 48, Eagles 30FPhilly failed their big chance to really put some distance in the NFC East with an easy opponent. The secondary got shredded by Matt Cassel and the offense took too long to get going.B+With Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart sidelined the Vikings still managed to run the ball extremely well with Matt Asiata. *furiously Googles Matt Asiata* Stunner of a win for Minnesota.Dolphins 24, Patriots 20C-Tom Brady threw for 364 yards but it took him 55 attempts to do it. He was relatively sharp in the first game without Rob Gronkowski but New England's offense doesn't look dynamic enough with just Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola out there.B-Heck of a game for Ryan Tannehill. Miami's been doing a great job protecting him the past few weeks, particularly impressive given all their personnel issues. Massive win that -- for the moment -- puts the Fins in the playoff picture.Bears 38, Browns 31B+Marc Trestman's call to start Jay Cutler looks pretty smart right now: Cutler went 11 of 12 on third down and led the Bears to a critical victory on the road. Alshon Jeffery continues to dominant. The Chicago defense is a major question mark but that's not breaking news.C-Josh Gordon keeps putting up big stats (albeit in garbage time) and the Browns defense did its best to hold up against the Bears while they could. There's only so much you can do with an offense based on Jason Campbell and Edwin Baker.Colts 25, Texans 3F-Honestly don't understand how Houston gets worse and worse every single week that goes by. Embarrassing to go into Lucas Oil and not even manage to score a single touchdown against the Colts. Embarrassing.B-Like taking candy from a baby. Robert Mathis dominated on the defensive end, becoming the Colts all-time sacks leader and single-season sacks leader. They put pressure on Case Keenum and ended this game early.Bills 27, Jaguars 20B-Nice road win for a previously struggling Bills team against the hot Jaguars. Both C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson put up yards and the defense limited Chad Henne and company. Nice moral victory for Doug Marrone.C+And so the long-shot playoff win dies. The Jaguars are officially eliminated now. But they got some nice contributions from young players again, including Jordan Todman and Ace Sanders.49ers 33, Buccaneers 14B+Colin Kaepernick played well and Michael Crabtree kept working into shape (but what was that stupid penalty?). The defense and special teams helped put the Bucs away late.C-Couple of nice throws -- including a touchdown to Timothy Wright -- from Mike Glennon but the Buccaneers only felt "in" this game for about 10 minutes or so. They managed to tighten things up and quickly egged.Seahawks 23, Giants 0A-Not a perfect game, but going on the road and blowing out an inferior opponent is impressive. Russell Wilson was typically awesome, Marshawn Lynch ran well and Richard Sherman feasted on a generous Eli Manning.FEli Manning threw five picks (five!) and averaged five yards per attempt. The Giants defense couldn't slow down anyone and the running game was non existent. Nightmare of a game in front of a home crowd.

Topics: Aaron Rodgers, Ace Sanders, Adrian Peterson, Alex Smith, Alex Smith, Alshon Jeffery, Andre Ellington, Andy Dalton, Antonio Brown, Bell,Le'Veon, Ben Roethlisberger, C.J. Spiller, Cam Newton, Carson Palmer, Case Keenum, Chad Henne, Chris Johnson, Colin Kaepernick, Danny Amendola, DeAngelo Williams, Drew Brees, Eddie Lacy, Edwin Baker, Eli Manning, Fred Jackson, Geno Smith, Jamaal Charles, Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler, Jordan Todman, Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, Kendall Wright, Kevin Kolb, Kirk Cousins, Marshawn Lynch, Matt Asiata, Matt Cassel, Matt Flynn, Matt McGloin, Matt Ryan, Michael Crabtree, Mike Glennon, Rashard Mendenhall, Richard Sherman, Rob Gronkowski, Robert Griffin III, Robert Mathis, Russell Wilson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Tannehill, Santonio Holmes, Terrelle Pryor, Timothy Wright, Toby Gerhart, Tom Brady, NFL Grades 2013, Will Brinson, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins, NFL

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